So for those keeping score at home, here’s a movie dealing with the fiction that Democrats have been perpetuating for almost 7 years, directed by a guy who gives tons of money to Democrat candidates and groups and is being produced by a women who’s aligned politically with the likes of Streisand and Fonda.

I could care less what’s happening tonight in Hollywood’s Annual Mutual Admiration Society meeting, but if you want to know who won what, click here to see some live-blogging in action.

I understand Al Gore won for Documentary. He joins Michael Moore with that honor. Maybe they can now change the name of the award to the “Best Crockumentary Dreamed Up By a Plus-Sized Political Hack” and give the winner a bronzed twinkie instead.

When Gore’s acceptance speech ended, I bet the hostess walked up to escort the Oscar statue offstage, mistaking it for Gore.

The show is so bad, I bet millions are begging their local stations to replace the show with more coverage of Anna Nicole Smith and Britney Spears.

UPDATE:
A reader has emailed me to point out the unintentional acronym I created:

The makers of a new documentary, to be aired for the first time at a news conference in New York Monday, claim that a tomb found in a Jerusalem cave 36 years ago belongs to none other than Jesus Christ.

And this isn’t just some off the wall no-name documentary being promoted by a random website. The producer is Hollywood elite, James Cameron (of The Terminator and Titanic fame) and Time Magazine is now running the story like this:

Brace yourself. James Cameron, the man who brought you ‘The Titanic’ is back with another blockbuster. This time, the ship he’s sinking is Christianity.

In a new documentary, Producer Cameron and his director, Simcha Jacobovici, make the starting claim that Jesus wasn’t resurrected –the cornerstone of Christian faith– and that his burial cave was discovered near Jerusalem. And, get this, Jesus sired a son with Mary Magdelene.

No, it’s not a re-make of “The Da Vinci Codes’. It’s supposed to be true.

James Cameron is described as “only marginally religious.” So excuse me for being a bit skeptical about his take on Christianity. To say nothing of the fact they’re billing this documentary as a film “where Indiana Jones and the Da Vinci Code come to life and change the way we look at the world.” Well, that’s one way to make somemoney.

I’m curious to see how they’re going to use DNA to prove that it’s Jesus. Do they already have some old Jesus DNA to baseline against? And I suppose this means the original disciples willingly died for a lie?

Besides, if some folks were going to perpetuate a “lie of Christianity” on the idea that the Savior died and rose from the grave, why would they put his body into a coffin next to his family for others to discover? Sort of reeks of obviousness.

This particular story is also not new, as the cave had been discovered in 1980. Seems like Christianity would’ve already been “titanic”-ed by now, with such a find. But it’s alive and well. In addition, even the Time article acknowledges the names inscribed were “common Jewish names”.

Cameron’s project looks like pseudoscience dressed up to swing away at the foundation of Christianity. Let’s see him try anything similar with the religion of peace. And then we might see just how fast he sinks into hiding.

Seems the pseudoscience is that latest liberal trend. And this isn’t simply a case of cartoons making fun of Jesus… this is an attempt to disprove the very foundation of Christianity. So it will be interesting to see if Christians worldwide will go out and riot, bomb and kill in response to this.

UPDATE 2:
Anchoress reminds us this is a standard “Easter season” kind of story.

Dr. Carney Matheson from the Paleo-DNA Laboratory at Lakehead University in Ontario, Canada, conducted a mitochondrial DNA analysis on microscopic bits of matter recovered from the “Jesus son of Joseph” and “Mariamene e Mara” ossuaries. The test genetically concludes that the two were not maternally related. Given that this was a family burial place reserved for spouses and blood relations, it is possible to deduce that they were a couple.

That’s it? That’s the evidence to prove all of Christianity is a lie?

They could’ve also deduced that given the commonality of the names, or the location of the tomb, or the cost of such a family crypt, that it was just another rich Jewish family who died a long time ago. But it looks like they found the evidence they wanted to find.

Were Jesus Christ’s Bones Found In Tomb?
Documentary To Challenge Tenets Of Christianity, Claims DNA Identifies Remains Of Christ

An Oscar-winning director is about to challenge the most elemental tenets of Christianity in a documentary on The Discovery Channel, claiming the bones of Jesus Christ and his closest relatives were found in a Jerusalem tomb in 1980.

James Cameron’s documentary claims the bones of Jesus, his mother Mary, father Joseph, and Mary Magdalene — who some say was his wife — were found in the tomb.
[…]
Church officials have, predictably, dismissed the documentary’s claims as nonsensical and baseless.

Such objective reporting. Make the discovery look absolute and the criticism unfounded.

I wonder if Mary Mapes and Dan Rather will claim to have a fax copy of Jesus and Mary’s marriage license.

In 1996, when the BBC aired a short documentary on the same subject, archaeologists challenged the claims. Amos Kloner, the first archaeologist to examine the site, said the idea fails to hold up by archaeological standards but makes for profitable television.
[…]
“How possible is it?” [Stephen] Pfann (biblical scholar at the University of the Holy Land in Jerusalem) said. “On a scale of one through 10 _ 10 being completely possible _ it’s probably a one, maybe a one and a half.”

Pfann is even unsure that the name “Jesus” on the caskets was read correctly. He thinks it’s more likely the name “Hanun.”

“They just want to get money for it,” Kloner said.
[…]
Archaeologists also balk at the filmmaker’s claim that the James Ossuary _ the center of a famous antiquities fraud in Israel _ might have originated from the same cave. In 2005, Israel charged five suspects with forgery in connection with the infamous bone box.

And still no mass riots…

UPDATE 6:
Here is a picture of the ossuary in question, with a description of the inscription (from Discovery.com):

Note the presence of the “cross-mark of unknown origin” next to the name. Something to consider about that:

During the first two centuries of Christianity, the cross was rare in Christian iconography as it depicts a purposely painful and gruesome method of public execution. The Ichthys, or fish symbol, was used by early Christians to covertly identify each other. The Chi-Rho monogram, which was adopted by the Constantine I in the fourth century as his banner called the labarum, was an Early Christian symbol of wider use.

UPDATE 7:
I heard a report about this story on the Houston-based Christian radio station, KSBJ, this morning. They mentioned it during the news segment and billed it as a significant new find for Christianity. Obviously, I was surprised by this promotion - without any qualifications - so I contacted them about it to find out whether they had seen the MSM articles billing this as the “end of Christianity”. The DJ that had mentioned the story replied, “That is not how the story presented itself. I will look at your information.”

After a few more emails exchanged, she finally admitted:

“It’s like the JESUS documentary done a number of years ago. I think we need to see it because it’s something we’ll have to answer, but you’re right I should have made that disclaimer thanks!”

I just wonder how many others will make the same mistake when approaching this story.

Let’s take a few things in the context of the times. Jesus was a well-known agitator whose crucifixion creates a cult following, in the eyes of the Romans and the leading Jews of the time. The basis of that cult formed around the notion that Jesus rose from the dead. If the Romans knew where his body was buried, why then did they not produce it as proof of his immutable death? In order to be placed in an ossuary, he would have to lie in the tomb for a year, decomposing to skeletal remains. During that time, the Romans could easily have produced the body — or the cult followers could have stolen it and buried it elsewhere to prevent it.

The familial ties also seem rather odd. In the first generation of Jesus, no one mentions his marriage or family. Yet his familiy and followers — ossuaries of Matthew and James are supposedly among the discoveries — supposedly felt it of no moment to bury him with his wife and son, despite their refusal to acknowledge a marriage. By the time his son would have died, the Gospels would already have been written and prophesied in the region and further to Greece and Rome.

And all of this evidence would have been left in the open, in a tomb in the middle of the largest city in the region, where anyone could have discovered it.

He sums it up well by saying:

“This relies on faith at least as much as the Christian religion does, and contradicts common sense.”

Now we get to hear how the Dixie Chicks are validated in their hatred for President Bush because they won some awards last night.

The Dixie Chicks, who stirred up a hornet’s nest with a jibe at President Bush, won all five Grammys for which they were nominated on Sunday, including the coveted album of the year.

The victory marked a stunning validation for the female country music trio from Texas, almost four years after their dream run as the darlings of Nashville came to an abrupt end.

Yeah, they’ve validated that a group can see their fan base all but disappear with concerts cancelled for lack of interest and still gain industry recognition for purely political purposes. In the words of American Idol’s Randy Jackson, “Welcome to Hollywood, baby!”

“I think people are using their freedom of speech tonight with all of these awards,” Maines said.

UPDATE 2:
Many are emailing me asking how I can claim the Dixie Chicks aren’t as successful as they’re appearing to be. Here are some numbers to ponder:

Their cd “Wide Open Spaces” was released on January 27, 1998. It sold 12 million units and was certified RIAA Diamond.

Their cd “Fly” was released on August 31, 1999. It sold 10 million units and was certified RIAA Diamond.

Their latest cd, “Taking the Long Way” was released on May 23, 2006 and sold 1 million units in the first four weeks… but has only managed approximately 1 million since.

In 2000, their “Fly Tour” went to 90 cities with an average attendance of 12,000 per show and grossed over $46 million in ticket sales.

On March 7, 2003, they sold a record 867,000 tickets in a day and earned $62 million on tour, making it the top grossing country tour of the year.

But after March 10, 2003 (they had already sold out virtually every show of their 2003 world tour), when Natalie Maines told the London concert audience, “Just so you know, we’re ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas”, their cd sales plummeted and in 2006, their tour had to cancel multiple dates because of a lack of ticket sales.

The former president told a crowd of about 300 on the campus of the University of Nevada, Reno today that the nation is more sharply divided that it has ever been as a result of Bush’s policies.

Well, let’s see, there are many who support the President and those who oppose him. Seems to me those who oppose his every step are the dividers. And it’s priceless that the most miserable failure of a President in history has any comment on making America an “international disgrace”.

Sure, we had to go to Australia to read news about this, but it’s worth the trip:

Nicole Kidman and 83 Hollywood heavyweights are using the power of the press to speak out against terrorism.

She has joined 84 other high-profile Hollywood stars, directors, studio bosses and media moguls, including News Corporation chairman Rupert Murdoch, has taken out a powerfully-worded full page advertisement in today’s Los Angeles Times newspaper.

What a refreshing moment of clarity for Hollywood.

The ad:

“We the undersigned are pained and devastated by the civilian casualties in Israel and Lebanon caused by terrorist actions initiated by terrorist organisations such as Hizbollah and Hamas.

If we do not succeed in stopping terrorism around the world, chaos will rule and innocent people will continue to die.

We need to support democratic societies and stop terrorism at all costs.”

So you want a list of whose movies and television shows you’ll want to be supporting now?

I feel a special bond with the Ditzie Chicks, considering it was their verbal diarrhea that prompted me to launch this site back in 2003. So it’s with great joy that I watch them try to spin the impact of their anti-Bush tirade into something positive for the group.

In response to having to cancel 14 cities on their tour for lack of ticket sales, the group had this to say:

The trio released a statement last week attributing the changes to attempts to “accommodate demand” and said more dates might be added next year.

Priceless.

Maybe it was just a clerical error, and somebody forgot to include “enormous lack of” between “accommodate” and “demand”.

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